Springsteen’s ‘The Promise’ Might Be The Release Of The Year

I know what I’m getting myself for Christmas.

Bruce Springsteen’s ‘The Promise: The Darkness on the Edge of Town Story’ will be released on Nov 16. The Deluxe Package comprises over six hours of film and more than two hours of audio across 3 CDs and 3 DVDs.

The media contents are packaged within an 80-page notebook containing facsimiles from Springsteen’s original notebooks from the recording sessions, which include alternate lyrics, song ideas, recording details, and personal notes in addition to a new essay by Springsteen and never-before-seen photographs. Containing a wealth of previously unreleased material, ‘The Promise: The Darkness on the Edge of Town Story’ offers an unprecedented look into Springsteen’s creative process during a defining moment in his career. ‘The Promise: The Darkness on the Edge of Town Story’ will additionally be released as a 3CD/3 Blu Ray disc set.

The set will be available as ‘The Promise,’ an edition which consists of only the unheard complete songs on two CDs or four LPs, along with lyrics and the new essay by Springsteen.

The Deluxe Package includes ‘Darkness on the Edge of Town,’ digitally remastered for the first time.

CD 1: REMASTERED ‘DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN’
1. Badlands
2. Adam Raised A Cain
3. Something In The Night
4. Candy’s Room
5. Racing In The Street
6. The Promised Land
7. Factory
8. Streets Of Fire
9. Prove It All Night
10. Darkness On The Edge Of Town

“‘Darkness’ was my ‘samurai’ record,” Springsteen writes, “stripped to the frame and ready to rumble…But the music that got left behind was substantial.” For the first time, fans will have access to two discs containing a total of 21 previously-unreleased songs from the ‘Darkness’ recording sessions, songs that, as Springsteen writes, “perhaps could have/should have been released after ‘Born To Run’ and before the collection of songs that ‘Darkness on the Edge of Town’ became.”

Highlights include the extraordinary rock version of “Racing in the Street,” the never-before-released original recordings of “Because the Night,” “Fire,” and “Rendezvous,” the supreme pop opus “Someday (We’ll Be Together),” the hilarious “Ain’t Good Enough for You,” the superb soul-based vocal performance on “The Brokenhearted,” the utterly haunting “Breakaway,” and the fully orchestrated masterpiece and title song “The Promise.” All 21 songs have been mixed by Springsteen’s long-time collaborator Bob Clearmountain. According to long-time manager/producer Jon Landau, “There isn’t a weak card in this deck. ‘The Promise’ is simply a great listening experience.”

CD 2: THE PROMISE (DISC 1)
1. Racing In The Street (’78)
2. Gotta Get That Feeling
3. Outside Looking In
4. Someday (We’ll Be Together)
5. One Way Street
6. Because The Night
7. Wrong Side Of The Street
8. The Brokenhearted
9. Rendezvous
10. Candy’s Boy

CD 3: THE PROMISE (DISC 2)
1. Save My Love
2. Ain’t Good Enough For You
3. Fire
4. Spanish Eyes
5. It’s A Shame
6. Come On (Let’s Go Tonight)
7. Talk To Me
8. The Little Things (My Baby Does)
9. Breakaway
10. The Promise
11. City Of Night

The Deluxe Package also features “The Promise: The Making of ‘Darkness on the Edge of Town,’” a documentary directed by Grammy- and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Thom Zimny. The ninety-minute film combines never-before-seen footage of Springsteen and the E Street Band shot between 1976 and 1978–including home rehearsals and studio sessions–with new interviews with Springsteen, E Street Band members, manager Jon Landau, former-manager Mike Appel, and others closely involved in the making of the record. Advanced word on the documentary is so strong that it was invited to debut at the prestigious Toronto Film Festival on September 14 and will make its television debut on HBO on October 7.

DVD 1: “THE PROMISE: THE MAKING OF ‘DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN’”

In addition, the set features more than four hours of live concert film from the Thrill Hill Vault, including the bootleg house cut (the footage that appeared on-screen at the concert) from a 1978 Houston show, and a 2009 performance of ‘Darkness on the Edge of Town’ in its entirety from Asbury Park. The special performance in Asbury Park was shot in HD without an audience and successfully recreates the stark atmosphere of the original album.

DVD 2: DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN (PARAMOUNT THEATER, ASBURY PARK, NJ, 2009)
1. Badlands
2. Adam Raised A Cain
3. Something In The Night
4. Candy’s Room
5. Racing In The Street
6. The Promised Land
7. Factory
8. Streets Of Fire
9. Prove It All Night
10. Darkness On The Edge Of Town

THRILL HILL VAULT (1976-1978)
1. Save My Love (Holmdel, NJ 76)
2. Candy’s Boy (Holmdel, NJ 76)
3. Something In The Night (Red Bank, NJ 76)
4. Don’t Look Back (NYC 78)
5. Ain’t Good Enough For You (NYC 78)
6. The Promise (NYC 78)
7. Candy’s Room Demo (NYC 78)
8. Badlands (Phoenix 78)
9. The Promised Land (Phoenix 78)
10. Prove It All Night (Phoenix 78)
11. Born To Run (Phoenix 78)
12. Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) (Phoenix 78)

DVD 3: HOUSTON ’78 BOOTLEG: HOUSE CUT
1. Badlands
2. Streets Of Fire
3. It’s Hard To Be A Saint In The City
4. Darkness On The Edge Of Town
5. Spirit In The Night
6. Independence Day
7. The Promised Land
8. Prove It All Night
9. Racing In The Street
10. Thunder Road
11. Jungleland
12. The Ties That Bind
13. Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town
14. The Fever
15. Fire
16. Candy’s Room
17. Because The Night
18. Point Blank
19. She’s The One
20. Backstreets
21. Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
22. Born To Run
23. Detroit Medley
24. Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
25. You Can’t Sit Down
26. Quarter To Three

Ray Davies New Album Sound Very Cool

Ray Davies is rightly revered as one of the great songwriters in rock n’ roll history as well as being one of its more interesting characters. Thus it comes as no surprise when it came to recording his new album a fascinating cast of guests have been happy to appear.

Various confirmed and unconfirmed stories seem to suggest that some of these suggestions are close to the truth.

In 2009 Davies recorded a version of Better Things with Bruce Springsteen, while Bon Jovi contributed to Celluloid Heroes. An American magazine has reported that Billy Corgan has been working on the new album, with the Smashing Pumpkins singer contributing to a new version of  Destroyer from the under-rated Give The People What They Want album. If you know the song you can just hear Corgan sneering his way through that one with Davies playing the paranoid role!

Big Star frontman the late Alex Chilton is said to have recorded his contribution prior to his death earlier this year while Lucinda Williams also due to appear.

That would be worth the price of admission alone.

But to add to that there’s a few more contemporary stars said to be lurking around the studio.

Mumford and Sons,  Paloma Faith and Amy MacDonald are all expected to appear although a rumour of The Killers being involved is false.

Work on the new album is continuing with recent visitors to the studio including members of Spoon and possibly even Frank Black.

New Springsteen DVD In June

Bruce Springsteen has a new DVD set for release and it’s a cracker. It’s title is London Calling: Live In Hyde Park

Captured in London at the Hard Rock Calling Festival on June 28, 2009, the 172-minute film documents 27 tracks of live Springsteen that begin in daylight and progress through a gorgeous sunset into night – all in HD.

London Calling: Live In Hyde Park conveys both the experience of being on stage and the vast crowd experience of the festival environment. Viewers are able to see Springsteen spontaneously directing the E Street Band and shaping the show as it
evolves. The set list spans from “Born To Run” era to “Working On a Dream” and includes rare covers and fan favorites. Brian Fallon from The Gaslight Anthem joins the band as a guest vocalist on Springsteen’s own “No Surrender.”

The concert earned rave reviews. The London Times called it “epic” and “a revved-up, three hour power drive through Springsteen’s America.” The Independent concurred: “Springsteen’s intensity was staggering from first powerful vocal to final
thrashed-out chord.”

GRAMMY® and Emmy Award®-winning producer and editor Thom Zimny and director Chris Hilson – both members of Springsteen’s video team dating back over a decade – oversaw the film which will be available everywhere on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on June 28, 2010.

London Calling: Live In Hyde Park Tracklisting:
———————————————–
London Calling
Badlands
Night
She’s The One
Outlaw Pete
Out In The Street
Working On A Dream
Seeds
Johnny 99
Youngstown
Good Lovin’
Bobby Jean
Trapped
No Surrender
Waiting On A Sunny Day
Promised Land
Racing In The Street
Radio Nowhere
Lonesome Day
The Rising
Born To Run
Hard Times (Come Again No More)
Jungleland
American Land
Glory Days
Dancing In The Dark
Credits (Raise Your Hand)

BONUS MATERIAL:
The River: Glastonbury Festival, 2009
Wrecking Ball: Giants Stadium, 2009

Mellencamp Honors Springsteen

The centerpiece of the Kennedy Center Honors in Washington, D.C. was the musical tribute to honoree Bruce Springsteen, which began with John Mellencamp’s slowed-down version of Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.”

“We did it as a folk-blues song the first half,” says Andy York, who played electric guitar with the house band. “John played acoustic, and halfway though he did a verse and chorus a cappella–and then counted it off and we finished it the Bruce way with the big hooks. So it ended with the full band playing with [John’s former drummer] Kenny Aronoff in the house band on drums.”

Mellencamp had prefaced his performance with a heartfelt recollection of his first exposure to Springsteen’s music.

Recalling how he heard a new artist’s music being played in a store, Springsteen’s future fellow Rock and Roll Hall of Famer went up to the clerk and asked who the artist was. After being told it was Bruce Springsteen—and that the album was the store’s only copy of “The Wild, The Innocent & the E Street Shuffle”—John asked if he could buy it.

It was the best $3.99 he ever spent, he said, then dedicated his version of “Born in the U.S.A.” to the soldiers stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Mellencamp was followed by Jennifer Nettles, Melissa Etheridge and Sting. Springsteen’s fellow honorees were Robert De Niro, Mel Brooks, jazz legend Dave Brubeck and opera star Grace Bumbry.

The annual Kennedy Center Honors Gala, which recognizes artists for their lifetime contributions to American culture through the performing arts, is the highlight of the Washington cultural year. Sunday’s event was recorded for broadcast on CBS on American television.

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